Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai S2 – 02
Don’t let this be you!
Welcome back for episode 2 of OreImo season 2! We got a reintroduction to the characters in the show without much storyline movement in episode 1, so what does the second episode have in store for us? Will we get any movement in Kyousuke’s romance?
Spotlight on Ayase
Kuroneko and Saori fans had it tough this week, as neither one of them showed up at all. Instead, this episode concentrated on Ayase and Kirino, who has been sucked into yet another game, “Love Touch,” which even monopolizes your time outside of when you’re playing it by sending texts and other things to your smartphone. Ayase, starting to wonder if she’s been replaced by another girlfriend of Kirino, goes to Kyousuke for help and to find out what’s going on.
I like the interactions between Kyousuke and Ayase in general, because Ayase feels like she’s just barely hanging on to the otaku side of Kirino at times. She’s never been a fan of that kind of lifestyle, although she finally seems to understand that it’s not Kyousuke corrupting Kirino. And from that, she seems more able to accept that this is what Kirino likes to do. But she doesn’t like it when her best friend is not being honest with her… or moving away from her with “someone else”.
Kyousuke falls for 2D Ayase
Was Ayase supposed to be happy that the avatar of “Ayaka” was basically her, with her voice? I wonder how often people try to use this “She’s just like you, so it’s not cheating” defense. It didn’t work for Akira Tsubaki in MGX, and it doesn’t really work here. The only thing it does it get Ayase mad at Kyousuke (something that’s always right below the surface, I’d imagine). And Kyousuke actually did help out Ayase as far as Kirino goes, by reminding Kirino that she’s been too involved in Love Touch, and taking it out of her hands.
Manami hopes Ayase doesn’t kill her!
I do think this episode went just a little overboard with that much Ayase and Kyousuke. I like Ayase’s character, but I don’t really get why she puts up with Kyousuke so much, or why Kyousuke is trying so hard to appease her, while also mildly sexually harassing her. I also think that Ayase’s got a bit of a yandere side, which was why it wasn’t really surprising to me that she picked that route at the end (and of course that “Yandere Route Included!” on the box was a huge Chekhov’s Gun). I also wonder how telling it was when Ayase seemed happy that she thought Kyousuke was inferring that Kirino wanted to be lovers with her, although it does seem like a tough thing to try to figure out Ayase’s motivation.
Kirino is more interested in looking up the skirts of dancing game avatars…
While the episode was mostly Kyousuke, Kirino, and Ayase, there was a little bit of Manami, especially in cahoots with Ayase. That’s a bit of a weird combination to me, but it was hinted at in the first series True End, when Manami had Ayase’s phone number. And this time they’re commiserating, especially when Kyousuke annoys both of them. And both of them decide that they’re going to win back their loved one by emulating the game, but I thought Manami was a lot cuter when she was mad at Kyousuke instead, and also when she said she was going to scold him.
Ayase’s tsundere and yandere sides got a real workout this week as she tried to win back Kirino from her video game doppelganger, but Kyousuke helps her out and reminds Kirino what’s important. This will probably be all the focus we get on Ayase for a while, and to be honest it’s probably enough, since she’s a pretty oppressive character, not nearly as much fun as the verbal sparring we get with Kuroneko and the enabling of them we get with Saori. Speaking of Saori, from the preview title of next week’s episode, it sounds like she’ll be back, presumably with Kuroneko, and that means otaku stuff!
Kyousuke doesn’t care if you’re mad!
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Anime does a good job keeping up with the times by their parodies of technology like Kirino’s game system being her version of Sony’s PS Vita and it’s almost the same in appearance. The frightening thing is that these games are becoming so interactive that you can’t help but get absorbed into them and the trouble is some people don’t know how to manage themselves and lose sight of what’s important.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
One of the technological things I have thought was kind of odd in anime over the last few years is the almost complete dearth of touch-screen smartphones. Everyone has a flip-phone in anime, and I thought that meant nobody had a smartphone. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to deal with a flip phone for texts and other smartphone functions, but they’re horrible.
Then I found out that this is actually a market choice, and the Japanese LOVE flip phones but still want the tech and capabilities. So basically they ARE smartphones in a flip form factor. Warui! I’m glad to see that touch-screens are actually becoming more prevalent in anime, finally, like Kirino’s in this episode.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
This espisode was a big disappointment with the lack of Saori and Kuroneko, especially considering how little we got of them in Ep. 1. I would have prefered that this episode concentrating on Ayase had been relegated to Ep. 3 or 4 so we could have gotten more Saori and Kuroneko now. Then Ayase could have felt even more neglected by Kirino because she had been hanging out with them. But maybe there was a good reason Ayase’s episode was now and we’ll discover why in a later episode.
Still, I really miss the sharp interplay between Kirino and Kuroneko and the way Saori sits there happy to see them connecting with each other since they didn’t connect with the other girls when she called her first meeting of otaku girls.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I don’t know if this was a ‘get Ayase out of the way’ strategy, or if it’s one where she’s going to figure more in the show (again, to the hue and cry and wailing and gnashing of teeth of the Kuroneko / Saori fans).
Saori is really a great enabler of those two, making them the maid outfits, engineering their interactions at the beginning, even befriending Kyousuke to help steer Kirino in the right direction.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 106 comments
Ayandere FTW!~ Oh gosh this is reminding me of the Bad End for Ayase in the PSP game! hahaha. Yandere errywhere.
I’m looking forward to seeing Saori without her glasses! Ojou-sama revealed! Gogo!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
True! I want to see Saori dressed up and without her glasses. I’ll bet she’s a knock-out. And it’d be so great to see everyone’s reaction to her, especially Kyousuke’s.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Crunchy Roll has posted some screen captures and a brief video of her without her glasses and dressed up. Yep, she’s a real looker.